Wax Myrtle (Morella cerifera)

Wax Myrtle is an abundant large shrub or small tree in the Coastal Plain, especially at the immediate coast.

Durham Co., NC 6/27/09.

Wax Myrtle is uncommon at the edge of its range in the NC Piedmont, but frequently planted and probably escapes from cultivation.

Durham Co., NC 6/27/09.

Durham Co., NC 6/27/09.

The leaves are evergreen, with yellow glands on both the undersides and uppersides, and very fragrant when crushed.

Durham Co., NC 6/27/09.

Detail of leaf underside showing the yellow resin glands.

Durham Co., NC 6/27/09.

Durham Co., NC 6/27/09.

Bladen Co., NC 10/7/06.

Also called Common Wax-myrtle, Morella cerifera is similar to its less common and much smaller sister species Morella pumila (Dwarf Wax-myrtle), which is stoloniferous (spreading by underground runners) and usually grows less than 3 feet tall.

Wax Myrtle is also similar to the less abundant (but still common) Southern Bayberry (Morella caroliniensis), but that species has broader leaves with resin glands only on the leaf undersides. Confusingly, Morella cerifera is also sometimes called Southern Bayberry.

Dare Co., NC 11/11/06.

Morella cerifera is still more commonly known by its old name Myrica cerifera.

The fruits have a waxy coating, which along with the plant's slightly myrtle-like leaves, gives it the common name Wax-Myrtle. The true Myrtle (Myrtus communis) is a European shrub with small, narrow evergreen leaves.

Dare Co., NC 11/3/05.

Fruit detail. The specific epithet cerifera means "wax-bearing" in Latin. The wax may be used to make bayberry candles, though those are usually made from the larger-fruited Northern Bayberry (M. pensylvanica). Northern Bayberry is much less common in NC, occuring in dunes from Dare Co. northward. It has broader leaves than Wax-Myrtle.